Energy Grid Resilience

Debate between Michael Shanks and David Mundell

Wednesday 30th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

I thank my hon. Friend for the question. He raises what we are doing to deploy technologies in the clean power system to make it more resilient, and rotating stabilisers in particular. Those technologies were introduced in some cases by the previous Government, so there was recognition of their importance and we will continue to build on that.

My hon. Friend also raised the wider point that the transition to building a clean power system is about not just the generation we get out, but the good, well-paid jobs in the supply chains that deliver it and investing in industry right across the country, including in his constituency. We have committed to driving that forward. That is why the Prime Minister announced £300 million of supply chain investment at the energy security conference last week, and why we will continue to fight for this transition while the Conservative party turns against it.

[David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) (Con)]

I did not run the London marathon and I never will, but I am hugely admiring of all colleagues who did, and particularly my hon. Friend the Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross) and her incredible time.

The Minister referenced the point I made yesterday about the grid in Scotland and previously expressed concerns about the amount of time it would take to reboot that grid if there was an outage. As we have seen in Spain and Portugal, there is significant disruption if the grid is off for hours, but if it were off for days, that would be very significant and much harder to manage. Will he confirm again that the Department will look specifically at that issue?

[Michael Shanks]

I say to the right hon. Gentleman: never say never. I am sure he has it in him.

I entirely agree with the right hon. Gentleman. In the news we saw the impact on day-to-day life of what happened in Spain and Portugal, and he is absolutely right that if that was to go on for longer than a few days, there would be quite significant impacts. We look closely at the cascading effects and at what parts of the system we reboot faster than others to deliver priority services, such as in the NHS. We will continue to do that. The point he raised yesterday and again today about how quickly different parts of the UK and Scotland would be rebooted is an important one that I will take away.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Shanks and David Mundell

Tuesday 29th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

My hon. Friend is right to make the point about Longannet. We have conversations with Scottish Power on a number of issues, including this. He again emphasises the important role that nuclear could play in Scotland in the future. It could obviously be an important site for a range of uses, but if the ideological ban on nuclear by the SNP were lifted, we could look at other opportunities for such sites.

[David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) (Con)]

When I was at the Scotland Office, I was regularly lobbied by retired senior executives from the electricity industry who wanted to state their concerns about how long it would take to reboot the network in Scotland if there was a major outage. Obviously, I sought the necessary assurances from those running the network, but in the light of what has happened in Spain and Portugal, I would be reassured if Ministers sought those assurances again.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Shanks and David Mundell

Tuesday 4th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

I cannot speak on behalf of the House of Commons authorities, but under the building regulations of 2021, all new non-residential buildings and those undergoing major renovations must install charging infrastructure. In government, along with colleagues in the Department for Transport, I hosted roundtables yesterday, and I will host another today, on how we can unlock much more investment in charging infrastructure, because that is critical in supporting the transition to electric vehicles.

[David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) (Con)]

T6. I took part in last week’s very successful Nuclear Week in Parliament, and was pleased to see so many officials from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero engaging in it, but the dark cloud on the horizon for me and my constituents is that the Scottish National party Government in Scotland still use the planning system to block new nuclear development, and the jobs and economic opportunities that it brings. What can the UK Government do to promote new nuclear development in Scotland?